A big "Thank You!" goes out to those Readers who donated some of their
hard-earned cash to support this Reader-Supported magazine. We're still
a bit short of what we need to get this month's bills paid, so if you
enjoy reading TLE, please toss a few coins our way. Here's a
list of the ways:

Letters to the Editorfrom Ann Morgan, Joel Gehman, Steven Pilchman, Jim Davidson,
Dennis Wilson, Rex May, and Bill Williams for The smokinglobby.com Team
 FULL STORY

There Oughta be a Law?by Ron Beatty
My Mom and I are about as far apart as it is possible
for two people to be on moral and political issues. She is a die-hard
Catholic fundamentalist/conservative. I am a very libertarian pagan. I
believe that government has very little use. She believes "there oughta
be a law." My Mom and my aunts and uncles get together twice a week in
a kaffeeklatch to bitch about the world and how it's going to hell in a
hand basket. I go every now and then, but not often. In addition to my
Mom, one of my aunts and one of my uncles are super fundamentalist
Pentecostal. As you can guess, this is not a good atmosphere for me to
be in, especially since as one of the "young" ones, my opinion isn't
really that sought after anyway. It doesn't really help matters that
my mother, her family and I haven't had much contact with each other
for the last 33 years, either.
 FULL STORY

Iraq, Iran, and All That Jazzby Jonathan David Morris
I wish the news would stop covering the Middle East.
Let me rephrase that: I wish there were nothing about the Middle East for
the news to cover. But since there is, I wish they wouldn't. I could be
done with it.
 FULL STORY

DDT Ban & Malaria: An Unnecessary Tragedy, INDEED!by Dennis Lee Wilson
In the Feb 2007 issue of the Iowa Alumni Magazine, I
read with interest Carol Harker's article "An Unnecessary Tragedy"[1].
The interesting part was the complete blackout of the role of DDT in
eradicating malaria. DDT is not mentioned even once in the article and
neither is the fact that politicians, not scientists, are the people who
have banned its use.
 FULL STORY

Nullification Re-visited, Part Twoby Robert F. Hawes Jr.
Those who reject doctrines such as nullification and
secession often point to the "Supremacy Clause" in Article VI of the
Constitution, where we read: "This Constitution, and the Laws of the
United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties
made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States,
shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall
be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to
the Contrary not withstanding." Nationalists frequently use this clause
to argue that the federal government is supreme over the states in every
way; however, this is an error, one that can be corrected readily enough
by reading the clause again without wearing authoritarian goggles. The
clause states that the Constitution and all laws made pursuant to it,
are supreme, not the federal government itself or any law it passes
at whim.
 FULL STORY

Hanging In Thereby Lady Liberty
There are various and sundry political action groups
for just about anything you'd care to imagine. There are pro-gun and
anti-gun groups. There are pro-life and pro-choice groups. There are
groups that fight for freedom of religion but from entirely different
perspectives. There are economic development groups that find themselves
pitted squarely against property rights groups. There are hunting groups
and animal rights groups.
 FULL STORY